June 5, 2013

Apple’s ‘Spaceship’ To Add Thousands Of Jobs, Millions In Tax Revenue

Apple released an 82-page report on Tuesday that describes the vast economic benefits of its proposed spaceship-inspired Apple Campus 2 facility in Cupertino, California.

The company is already the largest employer in Cupertino, and the second-largest tech employer in Silicon Valley, with some 64 percent of the its workforce living in Santa Clara County, 1,285 employees of which reside in Cupertino. About 14 percent live in nearby San Francisco.

In its report, Apple gave conservative estimates that the Campus 2 facility would grow the number of full-time, Cupertino-based employees by ten percent over the next few years.

“The number of Apple employees based in Cupertino has increased at an average annual rate of 18 percent over the past five years,” the report read.

“For purpose of this analysis, however a more conservative growth rate of 10 percent is being used. With a 10 percent annual growth rate, 7,400 employees will be hired between June 2013 and the completion of Apple Campus 2 in 2016, resulting in a projected total employee count of 23,400,” Apple said in the report, which was prepared by Keyser Marston Associates Inc.

For every one new job, an additional 0.75 jobs are created within Santa Clara County as a result of “linkages” to the company, Apple said.

About 9,200 full-time construction workers will be hired to work on the project over three years, according to the report.

Apple Campus 2 was the brainchild of former CEO Steve Jobs, whose last public appearance prior to his death in 2011 was to sell the project to the Cupertino City Council.

The new campus is built around an “iconic circular office building” that some describe as a cross between a spaceship and a doughnut. It will be four stories tall, 2.8 million square feet and sit on 176 acres of land. The new facility will also include an auditorium, fitness center, research and development centers and a central plant, Apple said.

Phase 1 of the initiative aims to house up to 12,000 employee, while the company plans to add an additional 300,000-square feet of space that would house up to 1,200 employees as part of phase 2, bringing the total headcount on the new campus to 14,200.

Apple said it would keep its current headquarters on Infinite Loop, which currently houses 3,000 workers.

In its report, the company noted that it made purchases of $4.6 billion from more than 700 businesses located within the three cities of Cupertino, Sunnyvale and Santa Clara.

Apple´s 16,000 Cupertino-based employees collectively earned $2 billion in base salary last year. Once the Apple Campus 2 is completed, employee base salary income is expected to surpass $2.9 billion, the company said in its report.

“Company purchases and employee spending of their income on local goods and services create additional jobs, income and expenditures.”

“Including indirect and induced impacts, Apple supported approximately $2.7 billion of annual employee income and expenditure potential in Santa Clara County in 2012, which will increase to $3.9 billion with the completion of Apple Campus 2.”

Apple said it will contribute $9.1 million in yearly tax revenue to the city of Cupertino in fiscal years 2012-2013, excluding a “one-time” cost of $38.1 million related to the construction of the campus.

The iPhone maker also said it will pump more than $66 million into public improvements to be built around the campus and in the City of Cupertino and surrounding areas.

“These include $50.2 million of roadway, traffic, intersection, landscape and utility improvements, $10 million of bicycle and pedestrian facilities, $3.7 million in park land, and a $2.5 million dollar contribution for affordable housing.”

In addition to these capital investments, Apple said it plans to spend roughly $35 million annually on a transportation demand management program to implement the company´s alternative commute program.